Epilogue:

Darkness...

No sound...

No pain...

No warmth...

Ranma and Akane floated in the void. Neither aware of the other, but striving to reach towards each other. The feel of their soul's distinctive signature called out to its significant other. Suddenly they were face to face, the glow of their essence brightening as they embraced. They communicated without words as they had no bodies to speak with.

"Akane!" Ranma called as he hugged her close.

"Ranma!" Akane replied settling into his embrace. Never letting go, she backed up a bit to look deeply into his eyes. "Where are we? What happened to us?" she asked him as he lifted a transparent hand and slowly traced the contours of her face.

"I don't know...but I think we're dead," he replied as he ran his finger along her cheek. Then, glancing around he tried to make sense of where they were. Ranma took note of their surroundings and sighed before returning his attention back to Akane.

"Dead?" Akane whispered, her voice shook slightly as the realization finally hit. "B...but what about my family. What about your family?" she asked him her eyes pleading for an answer and knowing that she would get one that she knew she wouldn't like.

"I'm sorry Akane, but it doesn't matter now. They will go on without us...somehow," he whispered, strangely feeling no pain at the loss. Ranma held Akane closer as he felt everything that she was feeling at the moment. He didn't know why he could, but he decided not to question it because he could also feel her love for him. Ranma was very sure at that moment that Akane could feel the same things he was feeling.

Ranma and Akane floated in the void for what seemed like forever before they noticed a light in the distance. I looked like it was coming closer. Strangely they were not afraid. As the light neared them, they could see a vague outline of a man walking towards them. When he was close enough that they could make out his features. It was an old man with kind eyes and a sad smile. He stopped, glanced at them and sighed. "I see that you have returned my children. Why are you here?"

"I...I was turned into a panther by a demon. Some friends tried to help me but something went wrong," Akane replied quietly as she felt waves of peace wash over her.

"And you. My son...Why are you here?" The being asked directing his gaze towards Ranma.

"I don't know...I remember Akane dying. Then a bright light, then nothing," Ranma replied with a slightly puzzled tone of voice. Then he asked the being, "Who are you? Where are we?"

"I am Saznaoo. I have taken your souls into my care once before and now I see that I must do so once again. Frankly, I'm surprised that you are here. You were not scheduled to come back to us this soon," he said out loud. Then he thought to himself, "but , maybe I can do something about that, I'll have to consult the other gods." The being motioned for them to follow as he walked away. As he walked, he explained where they were. "You are in what you mortals consider to be a sort of way station, a place before entering the gates of heaven, as you will. Now come along..."

Ranma and Akane were drawn by some invisible force as Saznaoo walked through the darkness, then he stopped moving. "Here, look and see what has happened on earth. It seems that your friends and family have come together in their grief to say their final good-bye's to you," Saznaoo gestured for them to look in the mirror that had suddenly appeared from nowhere.

Ranma and Akane looked into the mirror and saw everything from the time that they were wrapped in the blanket to the funeral speech given by Ku-Lon. They glanced back towards Saznaoo and asked, "Why are you showing this to us?"

"Why, to show you what has happened since you died," Saznaoo replied, then seeing their puzzled expressions as well as feeling their confusion he continued to explain. "You see, since you were not scheduled to return here, you will stay here in purgatory or enter into heaven," he paused noting their surprise before continuing. "Or you can choose watch over your family and friends. I will give you a few moments to decide," Saznaoo said as he walked a slight distance away.

"Ranma, I...I'm not sure if we should stay. I...I miss my family. I want to live and do the things that I've never done before. I know that it isn't possible now. But, I'll miss everything if we don't watch over them. It's so peaceful here and it sort of feels like we've come home," Akane whispered as she gazed into Ranma's eyes, her indecision clear to him.

Ranma never had much while he was growing up, so it was a lot easier for him to decide. "Akane...you know that I never had very many friends when I was training with my dad. I never knew my mother until a year ago. When I met you for the first time, it was like my world had stopped for a brief instant. I felt like I had known you forever and I didn't want to let you go. So, what I'm trying to say is that...I'll go with what ever you decide. I'll never leave you," Ranma replied as he pulled her closer.

"Oh Ranma," Akane whispered as she hugged him closer. Then coming to a decision as she gazed into the mirror, Akane turned her face up towards Ranma's and kissed him before pulling away to face Saznaoo. "Can we say a final goodbye to our families?" she asked Saznaoo while leaning further into Ranma's embrace.

To say that Saznaoo was surprised was an understatement, but he didn't show his emotions outwardly as he smiled sadly and nodded his head. "Yes, you may say goodbye to them one last time. I think they will be surprised at what they see, when they see you," he said as he walked forward towards the mirror. "Follow me please." With that said, the god Saznaoo stepped through the mirror and into the mortal plain.

Ranma and Akane eyed each other and then the mirror before shrugging their shoulders and followed right behind Saznaoo. There was a brief flash of light and then they were hovering over their bodies. As the light faded, they could see the stunned expressions on their friends and families faces, Ranma and Akane came to the same conclusion at the same time. Their friends and family were able to see them.

As the light faded from sight, everyone blinked to clear their vision, but when they glanced over at where Ranma and Akane were lying on the table, they saw something that made their jaws drop in stunned disbelief. There, hovering above their mortal flesh were the souls of what looked to be Ranma and Akane. But they were different somehow. Their dress was that of feudal Japan and their features were slightly older. Akane looked like a young woman of twenty six, her hair hung down past her waist in a braid, she was wearing armor and had two swords strapped to her back as if she were ready to go into battle at any moment.

Ranma, they saw, looked taller and more muscular. He looked to be slightly older than Akane. He was carrying a sword strapped to his side, and his features were slightly more chiseled. He wore armor as well and also had what appeared to be a bow strapped to his back. But the one thing that everyone recognized about him was his trademark pigtail, which was longer than the one on his mortal body.

Noduka was the first to regain her senses. "Ranma! Akane! You've come back to us," she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

The two souls turned their attention to those in the room, smiling at the same time. When everyone looked into their eyes, they saw wisdom beyond anything they had known in life. The two bowed respectfully before they spoke. "We have come to say our final good-byes," Ranma said as he gazed around the room.

Everyone gasped, slightly stunned and were about to protest when Akane held up her hand. " Do not weep for us, as we will meet again. In the past we have fought that demon before and won. But we both died. Tenma/Ranma here," Akane gestured her hand towards her companion as the knowledge from long ago became known to her,"Died of a broken heart. And I died from the demon's poison. We wish that we could return to you, but that is up to the gods. Know that we love you and will always be with you in spirit."

"No! Akaneee, don't leave your father," Soun wailed before he broke down into fresh tears. This time no one tried to stop the flood as they were contributing to it as well.

"Oh daddy," Akane whispered as she glided forward towards her father and bent down. Her hand reached for his face and gently caressed his cheek before pressing her lips to his forehead. "I love you," she whispered as she backed away to stand by the table once again.

"Mom, Pop...I'm going to miss ya. We'd like to stay, but our bodies are dead now, so we can't," Ranma said as he stepped forward and kissed his mother on the cheek. Then he turned, hugged his father before he returned to Akane's side. Glancing around the room one last time, Ranma smiled a secret smile before he and Akane stepped back towards a light that had appeared behind them.

"Goodbye everyone!" Ranma and Akane called as they entered the light and disappeared from view.

Saznaoo smiled as the two entered into the light. Just as he was about to follow them he heard many of his fellow gods and goddeses cry out, "We have decided to let them have a second chance. They have twice defeated this evil and now we give you part of our powers to grant them their hearts desire."

Smiling, Saznaoo whispered, "Because of your great deads in the past and in the present I now grant you a second chance at life. The world is not rid of a great evil and may it never rise again...live my children, live," he waved his hand over the two bodies lying on the table. "Enjoy your life my children." There was a blinding flash of light, that surrounded the two martial artist's bodies, then it winked out.

Soun, Nabiki, Ku-Lon and the rest of the gang sat in silence trying to assimilate what had just happened. Just as they were about to leave the room they heard a noise. Everyone returned to the place where the pair lay and glanced at them in silent remembrance. They were very surprised when they heard Ranma and Akane moan, "Arrg...did anybody catch the license plate of that truck...?"

"What truck?" Akane moaned before continuing, "I think a building fell on me."

Gasps of surprise echoed around through the assembled family members and friends before they shouted, "Ranma! Akane! You're Alive!"

Ranma and Akane had just managed to sit up and take stock of their situation before they had the breath squeezed from their lungs by a group hug from their families. When they were able to breath again their families had long since disappeared into the house for a full scale celebration. "Akane?" Ranma whispered.

"Yeah?"the youngest tendo replied as she snuggled into her fiance's embrace.

"Aishituru," Ranma murmured before he captured her lips in a full fledged kiss.

Authors Notes:

I really enjoyed writing this and I would like to thank my pre-readers for helping me out.
Thanks Allyn Yonge, Quick and Gary Kleppe for helping me with everything. I really appreciate what you've done and I hope we can continue with more in the future.
A note to anyone who would like to start a fan fiction of their own: If you have an idea to write, don't be scared too. Continue to write your story until you're finished because there is nothing worse than an unfinished story.